Rick Stegeman is a PhD candidate at the Utrecht University School of Governance. He is part of the research project 'Authoritative reputations of inspectorates in turbulent times'. His research focuses on the relationship between the Dutch government and businesses. More specifically, he researches which factors determine the reputation of regulatory agencies among businesses, and how the (moral) reputation of regulators influences businesses' compliance with laws and regulations.

Before this, Rick worked as researcher for the Wiardi Beckman Stichting and as junior lecturer at Maastricht University. He completed a research master in Political Philosophy and Ethics (summa cum laude) at KU Leuven, a master in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (cum laude) at Leiden University, and a bachelor in Liberal Arts and Sciences (cum laude) at Maastricht University.